No, I am not really having a baby

Yesterday I had an interesting drive to Boston.

The driver was nice but didn't speak a word of English. I needed to tell him a few things, so first I called Katie.

She didn't answer, so next I used my phone. He wasn't sure if Dana-Farber would be coming up on the left or the right. I asked the phone to tell me how to say left. As you can see, the answer is izquierda.

When we got there, I wanted to say "I'll call you when I'm ready," so I asked the phone. That little Siri sometimes doesn't get things straight. She said, "Voy a tener un bebé." We both laughed. It means, "I'm having a baby."

When it was time to leave about two and a half hours later, a nurse who speaks Spanish got on the phone. He told me that the driver was a few minutes away and I should call when I was ready. He also told me how to say I was ready but I immediately forgot, so I got it from my phone. Estoy listo.

I have switched my ECP sessions (the light therapy for my graft vs. host of the skin) to Thursdays from Wednesdays, every other week, for two reasons. One is that Thursday is the only day Melissa can see me now. I could have slept over and kept it at Wednesday. But also I would have had to miss about 10 minutes of the Wednesday Livestrong class. The trainer who did my intake said it was OK, but when it came down to it, I saw that it would probably be disruptive.

I'll miss Larry and Lisa, the Wednesday regulars.

But I already had a good conversation with a new patient and his wife. He was only on his 18th session and was at the point where I was when I started some two years ago, going twice a week.

He got such bad GVHD of the eyes (ocular Graft vs. Host Disease) that he had to get one cornea replaced. 

She wanted to know when you know when to stop. The nurse and I both said you don't really know.

She said it's like the Hotel California. It took me a minute to get that she was referring to the Eagles song. She said, "You know, you never leave."

I assume we'll leave sometime, but it's hard to know when that will be.

Here's the verse.

Mirrors on the ceiling

The pink champagne on ice

And she said: "We are all just prisoners here

Of our own device"

And in the master's chambers

They gathered for the feast

They stab it with their steely knives

But they just can't kill the beast

Last thing I remember, I was

Running for the door

I had to find the passage back

To the place I was before

"Relax," said the night man

"We are programmed to receive

You can check out any time you like

But you can never leave!"

Downhill uphill

Thursday I woke to find dog poop and vomit all over the dining room rug and even streaked across the wood floor. Joe and I cleaned it up. The rug is already ruined because Maddie chewed the edges, but it was usable; now it will need some heavy-duty cleaning.

I had to head to Dana-Farber, so Joe took Maddie to the vet. She got a shot and pills to slow her digestive system, and she came home with easier-to-digest dog food. She never got a diagnosis, because her stool sample showed no sign of worms and she checked out normal for everything else. Maybe she ate something. She seems fine now.

I knew I'd be late for my appointment, but I was even later than I thought. The traffic on Route 9 into Boston was bumper-to-bumper, and the "Boston drivers" seemed to be out in full force. I called Melissa to say I'd be late. By the time I got there, I was exhausted.

My hematocrit had fallen to 25.7, which seemed odd to me because I felt so energetic a couple of days earlier walking around Newport with Ben, and I still felt OK. White count was normal at 9.1 and pokey platelets were 72. (Better than single digits, but I keep wondering what happened to 100?)

My blood pressure was way high, and my sodium, at 124, was still low. (Normal = 135-145.)

Glucose was lower (164) but still high (normal is 65-105), and liver function was slightly elevated again. They put me back on Glipizide to lower the glucose, increased my bp medicine, Atenelol, from 50 mgs. a day to 75, and increased my salt tabs from two to three a day.

Arrrrrggggghhhhhh! Too much to keep track of. I've been demoted from going every other week to going weekly, so I have another appointment Thursday.

It was far from a terrible visit, but still frustrating.

Things went uphill from there, luckily. I had a lovely "al fresco" dinner at my friend Margaret and her husband Nick's house, where we had delicious crusty salmon on the grill. From Needham, Margaret drove me to Diane's in nearby Newton. I left my car at Margaret's, necessitating a car swap the next day, but Margaret said I looked too tired to drive. It's nice to be looked after.

I spent the night in Newton, and the next day, Diane drove her son, Sam, and me to the house they just bought on Cape Cod. It's in Wellfleet on what they call the Outer Cape. David caught up with us later.

There was a celebratory air, since it was my first visit to the house. The plan called for me to stay until tonight, drive back with them to Newton, then drive home. It was a longish driving day – two hours to Newton and an hour-and-a-half to South Hadley – but there was very little traffic, and it worked out perfectly. The house was beautiful, and we managed a good sampling of our Wellfleet favorites: pond, bay, ocean, town and ice cream, as well as walking alongside the beautiful marshes and enjoying dinner in and dinner out.

More on the Wellfleet weekend tomorrow.